Overlong But Has its Moments
Summary
Bullet Train Explosion has a few tense moments, but it should have been at least 20 minutes shorter which would have made it more suspenseful and exciting. Maybe worth a one time watch, but I suggest just watching Speed again instead.
Plot: This film is a reboot of the original movie The Bullet Train, from 50 years ago which inspired the Hollywood blockbuster Speed. Director Shinji Higuchi, known for merging spectacular visuals with human drama in works like Shin Godzilla, creates another panic-suspense thriller, depicting the intense struggles of those racing to save lives under extreme conditions. This film stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, reuniting with director Higuchi after Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan. With special cooperation from the East Japan Railway Company, the production used real bullet trains and railway facilities to craft extremely realistic visuals, which were seamlessly enhanced with cutting-edge visual effects. Packed with non-stop suspense, this high-stakes thriller will keep audiences breathless from start to finish.
Review: I’m finally catching up on several recent Netflix releases that I just haven’t had time to watch until now. I’ve heard mixed reviews for Bullet Train Explosion which is a reboot of the original The Bullet Train from 50 years ago. The original inspired the movie Speed starring Keanu Reeves and this new version is also similar in that a train has a bomb on it, if it goes under 100kph it will explode.
Bullet Train Explosion has some moments of tension, but there are so many characters that I never really felt any emotional connection to any of them.
Who is the main character? Is it the train conductor Kazuya Takaichi (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi)? I mean, kinda but we know nothing about him other than he works on the train and feels it’s his duty to make sure his passengers are safe. That’s pretty much all we know about him. We spend so much time around the other passengers that it’s mostly just chaos which I imagine was the point, especially when we finally find out the bomber’s motivations. That’s arguably the most interesting part of the movie even if it is obvious early on who it is.
At 2 hours and 17 minutes Bullet Train Explosion is hilariously overlong and you could have easily cut at least 20 minutes from it. In terms of action we get several CG explosions and some brief brawls between passengers, but not much else. Speed was under 2 hours long and we all remember Jack Traven played by Keanu Reeves; it managed to remain tense from beginning to end due to perfect pacing and a classic music score.
Despite the flaws I didn’t hate this movie; I liked how the Japanese are so restrained and respectful which comes across in many of the characters. It also has a few thrilling moments and the visual effects are mostly decent… mostly.
Overall, Bullet Train Explosion is far too long and really drags everything out which takes away from the tension. It’s maybe worth a one time watch but I have no desire to sit through this ever again; maybe just watch Speed for the 100th time instead.